Article of furniture formed from slotted planar members

ABSTRACT

An article of furniture formed from a plurality of slotted substantially planar members joined together at their respective slots is disclosed. The planar members can be formed into a chair, a bench, a bed, or a table. In a preferred embodiment, the furniture is doll furniture, and the chair can also include a slotted substantially planar desk member or tray member, thereby allowing the chair to serve as a desk or highchair. The seat of the chair and the seats of the bench preferably include a substantially arcuate protrusion sized so that a doll&#39;s legs straddle it. Accordingly, dolls with at least a pair of legs extending therefrom and having no pivoting leg joints, only pivoting hip joints, or pivoting knee joints and pivoting hip joints can all appear to be sitting in the chair simply by straddling the arcuate protrusion. The planar members can include surfaces adapted to allow the user to apply desirable surface ornamentation thereon. Accordingly, the article of furniture can be sold as a craft kit wherein the customer may personalize their article of furniture.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 60/440,992, filed on Jan. 17, 2003.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an article of furniture. In particular,the article of furniture is formed from a plurality of slotted, planarmembers operably secured together at their respective slots.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Furniture, such as chairs, benches, beds and tables, are widely knownand used.

It is desirable under some circumstances for the furniture to be easilyassembled and dissembled, strong, durable, and aesthetically pleasingduring use, but also compact and portable when not in use. For example,children and collectors often prefer to display their dolls resting ondoll furniture. Frequently, these children and collectors must transporta large quantity of dolls and their respective doll furniture.Accordingly, it is desirable for the doll furniture to fit within asmall area when not in use, such as in a doll case with the doll, butstill be easily assembled when needed.

Conventional doll furniture has several drawbacks. It is expensive, andcan be bulky, non-aesthetically pleasing, or difficult to assemble anddisassemble.

In addition, many dolls do not have pivoting knee joints. Rather, thesedolls' legs' pivot only at the hip area or they do not pivot at all.These types of dolls do not “sit” in natural appearing positions whenseated on traditional doll chairs and benches. For example, with therear of such dolls fully seated on the seat of a traditional doll chair,the legs of the doll protrude from the chair substantially parallel tothe floor such that the dolls' feet are positioned unnaturally above thefloor at about the chair seat's height. Alternatively, the doll is keptin a substantially standing position and leaned against the chair sothat its feet rest on the ground, but the rear of the doll does notoccupy the seat of the chair. Neither of these uses of the doll chairprovide an aesthetically pleasing appearance that the doll is actuallyseated correctly in the chair.

These principles of having a strong, durable, and economical,aesthetically pleasing article of furniture that is also easy totransport, assemble, and disassemble are not limited to doll furniture.They apply equally well to furniture sized and aimed for human use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, despite the benefits of the known furniture, there remainsa need for a simple, cost effective, strong, durable, and easy toassemble and disassemble, article of furniture. In addition to otherbenefits that will become apparent in the following disclosure, thepresent invention fulfills these needs.

The present invention is an article of furniture formed from a pluralityof slotted substantially planar members joined together at theirrespective slots. The planar members can be formed into a chair, abench, a bed, or a table. In a preferred embodiment, the furniture isdoll furniture, and the chair can also include a slotted substantiallyplanar desk member or tray member, thereby allowing the chair to serveas a desk or highchair. The seat of the chair and the seats of the benchpreferably include a substantially arcuate protrusion sized so that adolls' legs straddle it. Accordingly, all dolls, including those havingno pivoting leg joints or only a pivoting hip joint with no pivotingknee joints can appear to be “sitting” in the chair simply by straddlingthe arcuate protrusion.

The planar members can include surfaces adapted to allow the user toapply desirable surface ornamentation thereon. Accordingly, the articleof furniture can be sold as a craft kit wherein the customer maypersonalize their article of furniture.

Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will beapparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodimentthereof, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric front view of a fully assembled chair inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded, isometric view of the chair of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the components used to form the chair of FIG.1.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the chair of FIG. 1 showing a possible positionof a doll's legs relative to a seat of the chair in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the chair of FIG. 1 showing a possibleorientation of a doll relative to the chair in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an exploded, isometric view of a desk in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of the fully assembled desk of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is an exploded, isometric view of a highchair in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an isometric view of the fully assembled highchair of FIG. 8

FIG. 10 is an isometric view of a bench in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an exploded, isometric view of the bench of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is an isometric view of a bed in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an exploded, isometric view of the bed of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged, view of a possible connection between componentsof the bed of FIG. 12.

FIG. 15 is an isometric view of a table in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention with a portion of the table top cut-away toshow detail therein.

FIG. 16 is a partially exploded, isometric view of the table of FIG. 15showing a possible connection between planar components forming thetable.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A simple, cost effective, easy to assemble and disassemble article offurniture 20 formed from a plurality of slotted, planar members 22 thatare secured together at their respective slots is disclosed in FIGS.1-16. The article of furniture 20 formed from these slotted planarmembers can include a chair 30 (FIGS. 1-5), a desk 32 (FIGS. 6-7), ahighchair 34 (FIGS. 8-9), a bench 36 (FIGS. 10-11), a bed 38 (FIGS.12-13), and a table 40 (FIGS. 15-16). Each of these embodiments isdiscussed in greater detail below.

A. Chair

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a chair 30 formed from the plurality of slottedplanar members 22 is disclosed. Preferably, the chair 30 is formed froma substantially planar back member 42, a substantially planar leg member44, and a substantially planar seat member 46. The planar members 42,44, 46 are preferably constructed of substantially rigid, durable andaesthetically pleasing materials such as wood, plastic, or the like. Theback member 42 preferably includes a first slot 48 extending to a loweredge 50 and aligned substantially vertically and a second slot 52extending to a side edge 54 and aligned substantially horizontally. Thearea above the second slot 52 defines a seat back 56 and the area belowthe second slot 52 defines a leg portion 58 of the chair 30. The outeredge 60 of the back member 42 can include ornamental contours and shapesas shown to make the chair 30 more aesthetically pleasing.

The leg member 44 includes a substantially vertical slot 62 extending toan upper edge 64 of the leg member 44 and positioned and aligned toengage the first slot 48 on the back member 42 as shown in FIG. 2. Ifdesired, the leg member 44 can include a contoured portion therebydefining a forward leg 66. The forward outer edge 68 of the forward leg66 can be contoured to make the leg member 44 more aestheticallypleasing.

The seat member 46 includes a slot 70 extending to an outer edge 72 ofthe seat member 46 that is sized and aligned so as to engage the secondslot 52 on the back member 42 as shown in FIG. 2. Preferably, the seatmember 46 includes a protrusion 74 extending therefrom that is sized toallow a doll's legs 76 to straddle the protrusion 74. More preferably,the protrusion 74 has a smoothly arcuate contour that straddles left andright smoothly arcuate projections 78 a, 78 b as best shown in FIG. 3,thereby defining recesses 80 a, 80 b. Recesses 80 a, 80 b are sized tooperably engage the upper leg portion of a doll 82 as best shown in FIG.4.

A user assembles the chair 30 using these three planar slotted members42, 44, 46 by aligning the leg member 44 with the back member 42 so thatvertical slot 62 operably engages first slot 48, and then sliding theleg member 44 in the direction of arrow 84 (FIG. 2) so that the legmember is positioned relative to the back member 42 as shown in FIG. 1.Then, the user aligns the seat member 46 with the back member 42 suchthat slot 70 aligns with second slot 52, and then slides the seat member46 in the direction of arrow 85 (FIG. 2) so that the seat member 46 ispositioned relative to the back member 42 as shown in FIG. 1. The chair30 may be easily disassembled by reversing these steps.

With the chair 30 assembled as shown in FIG. 1, a doll 82 may bepositioned on the chair as shown in FIG. 5. The doll may have nopivoting leg joints, leg joints that pivot only at the hip, or legjoints that pivot both at the hip and knee. Accordingly, as usedthroughout this disclosure, the term “doll” collectively refers toobjects having these features including a traditional toy that resemblesa baby or human and also stuffed animals and the like such as teddybears that have at least one pair of legs. The doll is positioned on thechair is a quasi-standing position as shown in FIG. 5. However, thedoll's legs straddle the protrusion in on the seat as shown in FIG. 6.Accordingly, the doll appears to be sitting on the seat with its feetresting on the ground, thereby providing an aesthetically pleasingposition for the doll relative to the chair. The chair also works wellwith dolls that have articulated knee joints. In such case, the dollsits on the horizontally-planar portion of the seat member 46 with itsknees bending so that it's feet are directed toward the ground.

B. Desk

Referring to FIGS. 6 & 7, the chair 30 of the earlier embodiment can bereadily adapted to form a desk 32. For example, the back, leg, and seatmembers 42, 44, 46 can form a chair of the desk 32 as shown using thestructures and orientation of the previously disclosed chair embodiment.In addition, the back member 42 can include a third slot 86 extending toa side edge 54 of the back member 42 and positioned above the secondslot 52 as shown in FIG. 6.

A substantially planar desk member 88 includes a slot 90 extending to anouter edge 92 and sized to operably engage the third slot 86 on the backmember 42 as shown. The desk member 88 includes a side portion 94 with adesk portion 96 extending therefrom defining an opening 98 that allowsthe desk member 88 to be positioned in front of a doll seating in thechair. The edges 100 of the desk portion can be contoured so as toprovide an ascetically pleasing surface.

To use the desk, a user assembles the chair portion and seats a doll onthe chair as previously described. The user then slides the desk member88 in the direction of arrow 102 (FIG. 6) so as to engage slot 86 on theback member 42. The torso of the doll is positioned at opening 98 as thedesk member 88 is slid into position in front of the doll. The desk 32may be easily disassembled by reversing these steps.

C. Highchair

Referring to FIGS. 8 & 9, the chair 30 of the earlier embodiment can bereadily adapted to form a highchair 34. For example, the back, leg, andseat members 42, 44, 46 can form the chair portion of a highchair 34 asshown using the structure and orientation of the previously disclosedchair embodiment. In addition, the back member 42 can include parallellyaligned lips 110 a, 110 b along the left and right sides 112 a, 112 b asbest shown in FIG. 8.

A substantially planar tray member 114 includes a slot 116 fullycontained within a back portion 118 of the tray member 114. The slot 116is sized to operably engage the back member 42 so as to rest on the lips110 a, 110 b of the back member 42 as shown in FIG. 8. An opening 120 ispositioned in the tray member and sized to operably receive the head andtorso of a doll sitting the chair therethrough. The edges 122 of thetray member can be contoured so as to provide an ascetically pleasingsurface.

To use the highchair 34, a user assembles the chair portion and seats adoll on the chair as previously described. The user then slides the traymember 114 in the direction of arrow 124 (FIG. 8) so as to engage slot116 on the 42. The head and torso of the doll is positioned through theopening 120 as the tray member 114 is lowered into position. Thehighchair 34 may be easily disassembled by reversing this process.

D. Bench

Referring to FIGS. 10 & 11, a bench 36 formed from the plurality ofslotted planar members 22 is disclosed. Preferably, the bench 36 isformed from a substantially planar back member 42, two substantiallyplanar leg members 44 a, 44 b, and a substantially planar seat member46. The back member 42 preferably includes a pair of spaced-apart andparallelly aligned first slots 48 a, 48 b extending to a lower edge 50and aligned substantially vertically and a second slot 52 extending to aside edge 54 and aligned substantially horizontally. The area above thesecond slot defines a seat back 56 and the area below the second slotdefines a leg portion 58 of the bench 36. The outer edge 60 of the backmember 42 can include ornamental contours and shapes as shown to makethe bench 36 more aesthetically pleasing.

The leg members 44 a, 44 b each include a substantially vertical slot 62a, 62 b, respectively, extending to an upper edge 64 of the leg member44 a, 44 b and positioned and aligned to engage a respective slot 48 a,48 b of the first slots 48 a, 48 b on the back member as shown in FIG.11. If desired, each leg member 44 a, 44 b can include a contouredportion thereby defining a forward leg 66 a, 66 b. The forward outeredge 72 a, 72 b of each forward leg can be contoured to make each legmember 44 a, 444 b more aesthetically pleasing.

The seat member 46 includes a slot extending to an outer edge 72 of theseat portion that is sized and aligned so as to engage the second slot52 on the back member 42 as shown in FIG. 2. Preferably, the seat member46 includes a plurality of spaced-apart protrusions 74 a, 74 b extendingtherefrom. Each protrusion 74 a, 74 b is sized to allow a doll's legs tostraddle the protrusion 74 a, 74 b. More preferably, each protrusion hasa smoothly arcuate contour that straddles left and right smoothlyarcuate projections 78 a, 78 b as best shown in FIG. 10, therebydefining recesses. The recesses are sized to operably engage the upperleg portion of a doll.

A user assembles the bench 36 from the four planar slotted members 42,44, 44 a, 44 b. 46, by aligning the leg members 44 a, 44 b with the backmember 42 so that slots 62 a, 62 b operably engage first slots 48 a, 48b as shown, and then sliding the leg members 44 a, 44 b in the directionof arrows 84 (FIG. 11) so that each leg member 44 a, 44 b is positionedrelative to the back member 42 as shown in FIG. 10. Then, the useraligns the seat member 46 with the back member 42 such that slot 70aligns with second slot 52, and then slides the seat member 46 in thedirection of arrow 85 (FIG. 11) so that the seat member 46 is positionedrelative to the back member 42 as shown in FIG. 10. The bench 36 may beeasily disassembled by reversing these steps.

With the bench 36 assembled as shown in FIG. 10, a doll may bepositioned on each protrusion 74 a, 74 b on the seat member 46 in aquasi-standing position. Accordingly, each doll appears to be sitting onthe bench with its feet resting on the ground, thereby providing anaesthetically pleasing position for the doll relative to the bench.

E. Bed

Referring to FIGS. 12-14, a bed 38 formed from a plurality of slottedplanar members 22 is disclosed. Preferably, the bed includes asubstantially planar headboard 130, a substantially planar footboard132, and a pair of substantially planar running boards 134 a, 134 b. Theheadboard 130 and footboard 132 each include a pair ofparallelly-aligned spaced apart slots 136 a, 136 b extending to a loweredge 137 of the respective headboard 130 and footboard 132. Each runningboard 134 a, 134 b includes a pair of parallel aligned, spaced apartslots 138 a, 138 b extending to an upper edge 140. The slots 136 a, 136b in the headboard 130 and footboard 132 and the slots 138 a, 138 b inthe running boards are sized and positioned so as to allow the headboard130 and footboard 132 to be spaced-apart and parallelly aligned witheach other, and the running boards 134 a, 134 b to be spaced-apart andparallelly aligned with each other, thereby forming a substantiallyrectangular structure as shown in FIG. 12.

Preferably the running boards 134 a, 134 b include rail members 142extending therefrom so that a bedboard 144 may rest on them as bestshown in FIG. 14, thereby defining the steeping portion of the bed 38.

A user assembles the bed 38 by parallelly aligning the running boards134 a, 134 b as shown in FIG. 13 and aligning the respective slots 136a, 136 b on the headboard 130 and footboard 132 with mating slots 138 a,138 b on the running boards 134 a, 134 b as shown. The user then slidesthe headboard 130 and footboard 132 in the direction of arrows 146 (FIG.13), and positioning the bedboard 144 on the rail members 142 to formthe bed 38. The bed 38 may be easily disassembled by reversing thesesteps.

F. Table

Referring to FIGS. 15 & 16, a table 40 formed from a plurality ofslotted planar members 22 is disclosed. Preferably, the table 40includes a substantially planar table top member 150 operably secured tofour substantially planar leg members 152.

More preferably and as best shown in FIG. 16, the table top member 150includes a top surface member 154 and a substantially planar legattachment member 156 parallelly aligned and spaced apart from the topsurface member with spacer members 158. The spacer members 158 arepositioned to as to cantilever the outer edges 160 of the leg attachmentmember 156. Each corner of the leg attachment member 156 includes a slot162 extending to the outer edge corner. Preferably, the leg attachmentmember 156 is substantially rectangular, and each slot 162 is alignedsubstantially at a 45 degree angle relative to the outer edges 160 ofthe leg attachment member 156 as shown in FIG. 16.

Each leg member 152 includes an attachment end 164 and an oppositedistal end 166. The attachment end 164 includes a slot 168 extending toan outer edge 170 of the leg and sized to operably engage one slot 162on the leg attachment member 156. Preferably the edges 172 of the distalends of the leg members 152 are shaped and contoured so as to make themaesthetically pleasing.

A user assembles the table by aligning the attachment end 166 of eachleg member 152 with the corners of the attachment member 156 on thetable top member 150 such that each slot 162 on the attachment memberaligns with the slot 168 on a leg member 152. The leg member 152 is thenurged in the direction of arrow 174 (FIG. 16) so that the slots 162, 168operably engage each other, thereby securing the leg member 152 to thetable top member 150. The table 40 may be easily disassembled byreversing these steps.

In view of the wide variety of embodiments to which the principles ofthe invention can be applied, it should be apparent that the detailedembodiments are illustrative only and should not be taken as limitingthe scope of the invention. For example the seat backs in the chair andbench embodiments need not extend substantially above the second slot.In such case, the fully assembled chair or bench would appear“backless,” but would still function as described.

Also, surface ornamentation on the planar members may be applied by themanufacturer, or by the user. In the latter case, the articles offurniture may be sold as a craft kit, wherein the user can customizetheir furniture by decorating it themselves.

Accordingly, the claimed invention includes all such modifications asmay come within the scope of the following claims and equivalentsthereto.

1-25. (canceled)
 26. A chair for supporting an object having two legsextending from a bottom portion, the chair having, a stand portionoperably secured a substantially horizontal seat portion; and, aprotrusion extending from said seat portion, the protrusion sized toallow the bottom portion of the object to rest thereon while the legs ofthe object straddle the protrusion, thereby allowing the object toappear to sit on the chair.
 27. The chair of claim 26, further includinga back portion extending substantially perpendicular to said seatportion.
 28. The chair of claim 26, wherein said stand portion and saidseat portion are formed from substantially planar members.
 29. The chairof claim 28, wherein said substantially planar members each have atleast one slot thereon, and said substantially planar members are joinedtogether by the intersection of said at least one slots.
 30. The chairof claim 26, wherein a portion of said chair has an unfinished surface,thereby defining a craft kit.
 31. The chair of claim 26, wherein saidprotrusion is smoothly arcuate.
 32. The chair of claim 31, wherein saidprotrusion includes a pair of concave recesses adjacent to andstraddling said protrusion for operably engaging the two legs.
 33. Thechair of claim 26, wherein said object is a doll.
 34. A chair forsupporting a doll thereon, the doll having a pair of legs extendingtherefrom, said chair comprising: a leg portion; a back portion operablysecured to the leg portion; and, a seat portion operably secured to theleg portion and aligned substantially horizontally; said seat portionhaving a protrusion extending therefrom, said protrusion sized tooperably engage the rear end of the doll while the pair of doll legsstraddle the protrusion, thereby giving the appearance that the doll issitting on the seat portion.
 35. The chair of claim 34, wherein saidprotrusion is smoothly arcuate.
 36. The chair of claim 34, wherein saidprotrusion includes a pair of concave recesses adjacent to andstraddling said protrusion for operably engaging a leg of the pair ofdoll legs.
 37. The chair of claim 34, wherein the chair is formed of aplurality of slotted planar members joined together.
 38. The chair ofclaim 37, wherein said plurality of slotted planar members aredetachably secured together.